Energy, fatigue, or both? A bifactor modeling approach to the conceptualization and measurement of vitality
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Quantitative Health SciencesDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2015-01-02
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PURPOSE: Vitality is an important domain reflecting both the physical and emotional components of health-related quality of life. Because of its complexity, it has been defined and measured both broadly and narrowly. We explored the dimensionality of a very comprehensive item bank hypothesized to measure vitality and its related concepts. METHODS: Secondary analyses were conducted using the responses of 1,343 adults representative of the US general population to Internet-based surveys including 42 items compiled from multiple scales (e.g., SF-36 Vitality, PROMIS-Fatigue), covering a broad range of vitality-related content areas (energy, fatigue, and their interference with physical, mental, social activities, and quality of life). Exploratory and confirmatory factor models were evaluated independently using split-half samples. Bifactor model was used to assess the essential unidimensionality of the items, in comparison with traditional unidimensional, multidimensional, and hierarchical models. Method effects of a common scale or phrase were modeled via correlating errors. RESULTS: The exploratory factor analysis identified one dominant factor. The confirmatory factor analysis identified a best-fitting (CFI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.084) bifactor model with one general (vitality) and two group (energy and fatigue) factors, explaining 69, 3, and 4 % of total variance. Correlating errors accounting for the method effects were important in identifying the substantive dimensionality of the items. CONCLUSIONS: The bifactor model proved to be useful for evaluating the dimensionality of a complex construct. Results supported conceptualizing and measuring vitality as a unidimensional energy-fatigue construct. We encourage future studies comparing practical implications of measures based on the broader and narrower conceptualizations of vitality.Source
Qual Life Res. 2015 Jan;24(1):81-93. doi: 10.1007/s11136-014-0839-9. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1007/s11136-014-0839-9Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/46688PubMed ID
25362259Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1007/s11136-014-0839-9